Maserati Sponsors Debutante Ball

The UK's first drive of the Maserati GranCabrio in 2010 was won in a charity ball auction undertaken during the revival of the Queen Charlotte's Ball. Said Queen Charlotte founded the Ball over 250 years ago to raise funds for mothers and babies. The Ball went back to London after a 12-year absence. The event marks the traditional "coming out" ceremony also known as the Debutante Ball which was also used to mark the beginning of the season.

Beautiful young ladies wearing Pronovias white gowns entered the Durbar Court venue in chauffeur driven Maserati Quattroportes. Their Mikimoto diamonds and pearls made them look even more radiant. HRH Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, HH Princess Olga Romanov and Their Graces The Duke and Duchess of Somerset were there to receive the classy girls.

Maserati GB and its London distributor HR OWEN Sports Cars supported the Ball during which £60,000 was raised. The money is earmarked for the Wolfston and Weston Research Centre for Family Health at the Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Hospital site of Imperial College London. About £500,000 a year is needed to help in the research of premature birth, miscarriage and infertility, so if you can donate a little bit go ahead.

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Ferrari Owners Get Together in Sundern, Germany

More than 80 Ferrari models of all sorts and kinds made their way to the town of Sundern in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, for a meeting that was organized by Antonio Capristo, owner of Capristo Exhaust Systems GmbH, a company that specializes on customized exhaust systems for sports cars. Oddly enough, aside from the Prancing Horse supercars, a few Lamborghini and Maserati owners also took part in the event. You can check out all the photos from the Ferrari gathering right after the break.

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Ferrari Voted World's Most Iconic Sports Car Badge in MPH Poll

Can't say that we're surprised by the results of a poll commissioned by UK's MPH featuring Top Gear Live and run by orange.co.uk/cars for the most "iconic performance car badge". As anyone would suspect, first place went to Ferrari with nearly half (48%) of all the 5,235 participants voting for the Cavallino Rampante while Aston Martin (being British and all...) took second place with 1,289 votes (25 per cent).

The raging bull of Lamborghini landed in the third position with 470 votes (9 per cent) while fourth, fifth and sixth place were taken by Bugatti, Porsche and Maseratti respectively.

And if you must know, the poll was created to drum up some publicity for the "MPH The Prestige and Performance Motor Shows" at London's Earls Court (5–8 November) and Birmingham's NEC (12-15 November).

MOST ICONIC PERFORMANCE CAR BADGES

No	Manufacturer	Votes	Percentage
1	Ferrari	2,525	48%
2	Aston Martin	1,289	25%
3	Lamborghini	470	9%
4	Bugatti	263	5%
5	Porsche	234	4%
6	Maserati	143	3%
7	Spyker	117	2%
8	Lotus	80	2%
9	Koenigsegg	70	1%
10	Pagani	44	1%

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Maserati GranTurismo S High-Res Image Gallery / Wallpapers

Unless you're a Pontiac Aztec fan, we don't believe than anyone will disagree with us when we say that the Pininfarina designed Maserati GranTurismo is one of the most beautiful GTs in the market today. It's even more sensual in the 'S' guise which adds a more powerful 440Hp 4.7 V8 engine and various other mechanical and aesthetic upgrades to the mix. Enjoy the 28 high-res images we added after the jump and why not, pick one to decorate your desktop. -Continued

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Maserati Drops the Top on the new GranCabrio

At last, after countless spy shots and months of waiting, we can present the convertible version of Maserati's stunningly beautiful GranTurismo coupe, the GranCabrio - not the best choice of names in our book... It's the Italian automaker's first-ever four-seater convertible and it will make its worldwide debut on September 15 at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show with international sales set to start in the spring of 2010.

Even though most of the heavily disguised test mules of the GranCabrio featured a retractable hardtop, Maserati finally chose to offer the production model with an automatic canvas top, a decision that seems to have been dictated by 'mama' Fiat in order to differentiate it from the sportier Ferrari California.

Like the coupe variant, the convertible model has been styled by Italian design house Pininfarina and at least with the top down, we can say that the GranCabrio looks the part.

Maserati says that the GranCabrio has the longest wheelbase on the market of any convertible, promising to offer "proper seats" for all four passengers.

There are no changes under the hood as the GrandCabrio comes with the same powerhouse as the GrandTurismo S, which means a 4.7-liter V8 engine that cranks out 440HP at 7,000 rpm and 490Nm (362 lb-ft) of torque at 4,750 rpm. Power is sent to the rear wheels through the firm's dual-clutch, electro-actuated gearbox with fast MC-Shift arranged in the transaxle layout.

The Italian company did not disclose any performance figures but we expect the GranCabrio to be a tad slower the lighter GranTurismo which goes from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 4.9 sec and achieves a top speed of 295 Km/h or 184 mph.

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Geneva Preview: Maserati GranTurismo S 440HP

The rumors we told you about the Maserati GranTurismo S yesterday turned out to be true as the Italian carmaker came out with an official announcement this morning. The GranTurismo S that will be unveiled in Geneva next month features a 440 HP 4.7-liter V8 engine (standard GranTurismo: 404 HP 4.2-liter V8) combined with a new dual-clucth, electro-actuated gearbox with fast MC-Shift arranged in the transaxle layout.

Other mechanical changes include the new Brembo high-performance braking system first seen in the Quattroporte Sport GT S. The system features front brake discs made with dual-cast technology – a dual casting of cast iron and aluminum, paired with aluminum mono-bloc 6-piston brake callipers.

On the exterior the GranTurismo S features discrete aesthetic modifications like the new alloy design, more deeply sculpted sills and a new pair of exhaust tips. The interior is upholstered in Poltrona Frau leather and Alcantara while the “S’” also gets new figure-hugging front and rear seats.

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Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S - Updated Photo Album

While on Maserati's site, we found a bevy of new photos of the Quattroporte Sport GT S that we haven't shared with you. To refresh your memory, the Sport GT S is the high-performance flagship model of the Quattroporte range and it was revealed in its facelift form for the first time at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The sportiest Maser saloon is powered by a 4.7-liter V8 engine that produces 433HP. Mechanical updates over the 'S' model include revised gearchange mapping, stiffer springs and lower ride height plus a more sonorous sport exhaust.

The Sport GT S version of the Italian firm's Porsche Panamera rival also features unique styling elements such as the new black grille with red accents and matching black chrome finish around the doors while inside there are new sports seats and a "titanium colored" composite material dashboard trim.

[Source: Carscoop]

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Maserati Loves Company: Quattroporte stretched limousine

Maserati Quattroporte limousine – Click above for an image gallery

While running around from merger to acquisition, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been riding in style in a Maserati Quattroporte. And why shouldn't he? The luxurious sport-sedan is miles ahead of the Alfa Romeo 167 which Fiat executives were chauffeured around in beforehand, and better than anything Opel or Chrysler has got to show off, too. But one limousine company in Florida has what it figures is the next step up: a stretched Quattroporte with seating for ten.

Based on the previous incarnation of the Trident-emblazoned four-door – the horizontal slats in the grille are a dead giveaway over the vertical bars on the newer model – the Padilla Car Collection claims it's the only stretched Quattroporte in the world. And we certainly hope so. The company's also got stretches Hummers, Bentleys, Escalades, Mercedes S550s and a custom Chrysler 300 should you, your pals and your prom dates be looking for something a little more, um... reserved. For our part, we don't even want to know what the extra yardage has done for the QPorte's handling, with which we fell in love on the back streets of Salzburg, Austria, and we're quite sure Signore Marchionne doesn't, either.





[Source: Padilla Car Collection via CarScoop]

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